About Jonathan Lewis

Jonathan Lewis uses digital manipulation to comment on the language of advertising and the symbols of consumption. In his 2001 series “See Candy,” he created slick, colored-stripe abstractions based off of the colors and imagery of candy labels, as in See Candy: 100 Grand (2001). For his 2006 series “WalmArt”, Lewis took photographs of Walmart interiors around the world, then pixelated them almost beyond recognition. However, despite these manipulations, and perhaps thanks in part to their titles, Lewis’ works are still recognizable as consumer symbols or spaces, forming abstract, universal referents to consumerist practices. His work is reminiscent of Pop Art in its concern with capturing the essential experiences of popular culture, such as repetition and mass production, without offering any explicit critique.